They Don't Teach You Love
by notmariah7
Summary: John doesn't mind being a teacher or being a single father. However, his friends and family try everything they can to set him up with any possible suitor. When a Mr. Hamilton begins teaching just down the hall, John's world spins like a globe, and faculty and students alike work to get them together. A modern Lams AU in which two people have chemistry, yet don't teach that class.
1. Chapter 1

**So...a couple things:**

 **I've always liked this AU, and a while ago, someone reviewed and reminded me of it, so I wrote this story.**

 **ALSO SOMETHING EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: Someone made a mashup of songs from Hamilton, Heathers, Dear Evan Hansen, and Be More Chill. And it's _sooo good!_ If you haven't heard it, you need to stop reading this and go to the YouTube channel ukulili right flipping now!**

 **Anyway...**

"There's a new U.S. History teacher this year," Philip told his father as they drove to the high school. "Mr. Hamilton, I think."

"I know," John said.

"You do?"

"I teach the same grade as him; of course I know." John rolled his eyes. "I'm not as out of the loop as you think I am, Pip."

"Have you met him yet?"

"No, I-"

"Georges thinks he's going to be an alien from Jupiter, and that he'll actually be studying us students for his alien science class." John just sighed in response. "Theo hopes he's a graduate from Harvard or Stanford or something. Stephen and Adrienne say that he'll be an old, boring guy."

"What's your guess?" John asked as he pulled into the school's parking lot.

"That he's your age, single, and likes guys."

" _Philip Laurens!_ " John gasped, parking his car with a jolt, his eyes wide. Philip laughed as he opened his door and stepped out of the car.

"Its been six years, Dad. Just sayin'." Philip closed the door and ran off, seeing his friends across the street. John stayed put for a minute, deciding whether or not to ground his son.

 _Six years..._

John groaned and got out of the car, extremely unexcited for the oncoming school year. Philip was now a sophomore, which meant John had to teach him, which was both of their worst nightmares. However, they would try their best to push through another 180 days of shitty high school life, both as student and teacher. As John made his way through the crowd of students on their way to their homerooms, he built up the necessary walls in his mind to prepare himself for anything the new school year surprised him with.

Yet, John was not prepared to see the man sitting on his desk when he opened the door to his classroom.

" _Jesus, Gil!_ " John cried, jumping in fear. The Frenchman threw his head back and laughed as John glared at him. "How did you get in here?" Gil twirled a ring of keys around his finger.

"A beautiful man has his ways," Gil smirked and winked.

"You got these from Herc, didn't you?" John asked, taking the keys and inspecting them.

"Whaaat? No..." Gil avoided John's eyes.

"Oh, come on, Gil," John groaned. Ever since John had begun working at the school years ago, Gil had grown to be his best friend. They knew everything about each other. Including, and especially, who they were fond of. "Either you ask him out and you get together, or you keep flirting and nothing ever happens between you."

"Or..." John pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Or you ask him out, go to a bar, have a one night stand, then act awkward around each other at work everyday."

"You cannot blame me for seeing no problem with that outcome. He is a P.E. teacher, after all." Gil fanned his face jokingly as John organized the papers on his desk. "Speaking of, have you met the new teacher yet?"

"No, and how does that relate to anything?"

"I believe you might like him, is all." John suddenly found that there was no more room on his desk for his things, so he swiftly pushed Gil off of it. Gil landed perfectly, then turned and scoffed at his friend. "What is the problem with you?"

"What?" John busied himself with moving the desks into a different arrangement.

"You criticize me for getting myself out there, then shy away from any chance you get to be with someone." Gil followed John around the room, trying to get in his line of vision. "How does Philip feel about you not even trying to find someone?"

"How do the twins feel about all those 'dates' you go on, huh?" John argued.

"Georges and Adrienne are happy that I'm at least meeting people."

"Yeah, well...I just don't want to get Philip's hopes up if I find someone, only to find out they aren't _the_ one, y'know?" John sighed as the first bell rang.

"Oui, but..." Gil lowered his voice as students began to file into the room for their first class. "It is difficult to find _the_ one if you never look in the first place, mon ami." Gil patted John on the back, smiled sweetly, then left the room. John shook his head in frustration, upset that this was how his year had started.

* * *

"How was your first day?" John asked his son as they headed back home after school. Philip stuck his tongue out and made a fart noise in response.

"How about you?" John gave the same answer that Philip had. They slipped into silence for a moment.

"What a riveting conversation." They both laughed, this being the way their conversations usually went. When their giggles died down, John asked, "Did you like your new teacher?"

"Mr. Hamilton is alright, I guess." Philip shrugged. "He's new, so he still has that awkward phase to go through. He moved here from somewhere down south, so he has a little bit of an accent. He's kinda quiet, but I can tell that he won't take any shit, especially from-"

" _Philip_. Language."

" _Sorry_ ," Philip groaned and rolled his eyes. "He won't let anyone mess around during class, especially not George."

"Eacker?"

"Yeah." They both groaned at the name.

"That kid is annoying."

"And mean." John perked up.

"Mean?"

"Yeah, I mean, he's just generally rude to everyone," Philip said hurriedly. "I only have history with him, so that's nice." John hummed in suspicion. "What do you think of the new teacher?" Philip wondered, changing the subject.

"I still haven't met him," John mentioned.

"Why not?"

"I don't know, I just haven't seen him around."

"He's...nice...and..." Philip trailed off.

"And?"

"And Georges was right. He's an alien."

"Welp. I hope you're prepared for the CIA to break into the school."

"I've been ready," Philip said with complete seriousness, "ever since I had to do a science project with this kid named Jeremy last year. I could've sworn he was a robot." John snickered at his son's wild imagination as they arrived at their home.

"I'll be so proud of you when you catch your first monster, Pip."

"It'll be a werewolf, I can feel it." Philip howled as he got out of the car, and ran into the house. As John followed him in, he couldn't help but remember what had been said to him that morning.

 _It's been six years, Dad._

 _It is difficult to find_ the _one if you never look in the first place, mon ami._

John shook the thoughts from his head.

 _This is going to be a long year..._

 **This wasn't going to be a multiple-chapter story, but I accidentally came up with too much plot. Oops.**


	2. Chapter 2

**By the way, I know that Adrienne is actually Lafayette's wife, but in my stories, Lafayette names his daughter after his friend Adrienne from France. Okay? Cool.**

John had managed to go an entire week without meeting the new teacher. However, he was apparently very...interesting, at least, according to Philip and his friends. The first Saturday off of school, all of Philip's many friends came over (he actually only had four, but it seemed like a lot to John). The little band of misfits included: the twins Adrienne and Georges Lafayette, Stephen Schuyler, and Philip's crush of five years, Theodosia (Theo) Burr Jr. John had expected them to just play video games or talk like they usually did, but when he went to Philip's room to check on them, he saw that they were all reading out of textbooks.

 _"_ What are you guys doing?" John asked. "You've only been in school for a week."

"Oui, and yet..." Adrienne gestured to the books in front of them. The lilt in her voice hinted at a faint French accent, a trait she and her brother got from their father.

"That new history teacher is already making us read a whole chapter in the book," Philip complained, flipping a page so fast that it almost ripped. Theo, who sat next to him, gently patted his hand. Philip blushed lightly, and went back to reading calmly.

"Mr. Hamilton isn't _making_ us do anything," Theo explained. "He _suggested_ that we read the chapter."

"I hate being a good student," Philip mumbled.

"What's the chapter about?" John wondered.

"The Revolutionary War-" Theo was interrupted by Georges and Stephen standing and slamming their books closed. Theo nearly fell off of the bed.

" _Vive la révolution!_ " Georges yelled.

"What was that for?" Philip questioned.

"It was perfect timing."

"This is boring," Stephen stated. "We're done."

"You didn't seem to think it was boring when Mr. Hamilton played songs from that musical," Theo mentioned.

"Yeah, well, that's different. It's music, not paragraphs and paragraphs of blah."

"I'm confused," John said. "Do you like the teacher or not?"

At once, Theo said "Yes", Georges and Stephen said "No", and Philip and Adrienne said "I don't know".

"Well, that's decisive."

"He gave us homework!" Stephen emphasized.

"He's also a good teacher," Theo added.

"But, homework in the first week? That's so stupid!"

"George Eacker is scared of him, I think," Philip mumbled. All the kids froze.

"You didn't tell us George was in your class," Theo said. Philip shrugged. "Um..." Theo glanced up at John. "Why don't we take a break? Just a short one." Stephen and Georges cheered, running out of the room to set Mario Kart up. Adrienne followed them, with Philip and Theo leaving the room last. Philip avoided his father's gaze as he walked by, his face red. For once, John wasn't so sure his blush was caused by Theo being so close to him.

* * *

The next Monday, just before school started, Gil waltzed into John's class, singing. John asked what he was doing, but got no response other than a rainbow-striped flag being placed on his desk.

"Um...Gil? You know we can't-"

"We can now~!" Gil sang. "Washington finally got King to remove one of his stupid rules!"

"Wait, what?" George King, the school's principal, was an ass. However, John wasn't allowed to say that. In fact, he wasn't allowed to do a lot of things. For example, showing any pride whatsoever would get someone expelled or fired from the school. Now, the nicest Vice Principal in the world, George Washington, had been able to take that rule down.

"Oui," Gil continued. "I am _so_ excited for Friday. Washington has planned a Pride Day for everyone to express themselves."

"Gil, almost the whole school already knows that we're gay," John said, getting a slap on the arm.

"This isn't about us, mon ami."

"Right. The students that I adore _so much_." Gil frowned at the sarcasm.

"I meant the new teacher." John rolled his eyes.

"Can you please stop talking about Hamilton?" I haven't even met him." Gil's frown deepened.

"Well, that won't do..." The first bell rang. "Maybe you could-"

"Shut up. Get out of my class." Gil snickered as John pushed him out of the room. He walked to his desk as students began filing in, eyes glued to the new flag. He sighed. Maybe this year wouldn't be as bad as he thought.

* * *

He was wrong.

During third hour, John set the students loose to work while he hung his new flag next to the American flag. He wasn't that tall, so he had to stand on a chair to reach up that high. While he was up there, the door opened.

And then John almost fell off the chair. Not because the door had opened so suddenly. No, it was because _God damn he's cute..._

The young man standing in the doorway was roughly John's height, so he could easily be mistaken for a student. His dark hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, save a couple of locks that frames his face nicely. The dress shirt he wore fit him perfectly, accentuating the outline of his body. His near-black eyes were absolutely captivating, and were staring right at John.

 _Oh_.

"Hello," John greeted, stepping down from the chair. "You are...?"

"Alexander Hamilton," the man said, sounding surprised that John didn't know. "My name is Alexander Hamilton."

"Oh, you're the guy everyone's talking about." Alexander looked at him quizzically. "Nevermind. What do you need?"

"I assume you're John Laurens?" John nodded. "I think these were given to me on accident." Alexander held out a small stack of papers. On top was a yellow sticky note with "Sophomore Biology Mr. John Laurens" written on it in flowery cursive.

As John reached out to take the papers, he asked, "Who gave you these?"

"Um...Lafayette, I think. He gave me, like, twenty names. He's French."

 _That son of a..._

"That's Gil. He's my best friend, usually."

"Usually."

"He messes with me a lot."

"Is this one of those instances?"

"Oh, yeah," John muttered, going to put the papers on his desk. When he turned back around, he caught Alexander staring above him at the flag he had just put up, before he noticed John looking at him, and he turned to his watch.

"Oh, uh, the bell is about to ring," Alexander stated hurriedly. "I better go." He quickly ducked out of the room without another glance at John. When the bell rang an entire five minutes later, Philip, who was in his father's class that hour, walked up to him.

"You met him," Philip observed.

"Yeah," John replied.

"And?"

"And?" Philip groaned, rolled his eyes, leaned forward, and lowered his voice when he spoke again.

"And you like him."

"Philip..." John pinched the bridge of his nose. "I understand what you're trying to do, and I don't approve." Before Philip could say anything else, John swiftly added, "Also, you're wrong." He couldn't let Philip know just how embarrassingly right he was.

"Uh-huh...okay, Dad..." Philip narrowed his eyes at his father.

"Philip, you should leave now, before you're late to your next class."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll just bother you more at home." Philip left the room, leaving John alone for a minute or so.

John sat at his desk, trying to wrangle all the thoughts flying around in his head. He tried his best to focus on one thing at a time, but it seemed too difficult for a time. Eventually, however, he managed to mix everything into an all-encompassing: _Whyyyyy?_


	3. Chapter 3

John would use the word "hectic" to describe how Friday went.

His morning started like most did, with Gil bothering him.

"Are you excited, John?" Gil asked cheerfully, sitting on John's desk again. He wore bracelets all the way up one arm, each one a different color of the rainbow, and a colorfully beaded necklace. Meanwhile, John simply wore one, rainbow-striped, rubber bracelet.

"I don't know," John answered. "I guess."

"You guess? John, come on now. This is incredible!"

"I just don't think it's that big of a deal."

"Not a big deal?" Gil gasped.

"Yeah, I mean, I already know what Philip is, so I probably won't be surprised by anything."

"What about Monsuier Hamilton?" John's brain crashed for a moment and he stared blankly at his desk.

"Alexander? I don't care." When he looked up again, Gil was gaping at him in astonishment. "What?"

"He never told me his first name." The smile of a maniac slowly crept onto Gil's face.

"Oh, no. Don't even star-"

"He likes you!" Gil cheered, jumping onto his feet. Heat rushed into John's face as his friend spun in circles and laughed.

"You don't know that."

"True, but you like him, non?" John went as red as a tomato.

"N-No." When Gil gave him a look that showed he had seen through the lie, John continued, "I've only met him once, and all we talked about was school stuff."

"Maybe you could-"

"No. No more of your ideas. Get out."

"John-"

"Nope. I don't want to deal with this today." Gil finally left, and John leaned against the door when it closed. "Why am I friends with him?" John muttered to himself. "He's going to be the death of me..."

* * *

During third hour, Philip avoided even looking at his father. He always did anyway, but today it was obvious. John knew why, of course. It was Pride Day, John was gay, and Philip was embarrassed by it. Still, John couldn't help the small twinge of confusion in his head. Philip usually wasn't ashamed by his father's sexuality, so why was he today? John decided to ask his son what was wrong after class, but Philip ran out of the room before he could.

* * *

John didn't have to teach any classes while the sophmores were in lunch. It was his only real break all day. If he could, he would hang out with Gil during this hour, but, unfortunately, Gil taught French to all four grades, and therefore had a different class schedule. Being alone was nice, John supposed. At least he had some time when he wasn't surrounded by shouting children.

Everything was peace and quiet.

Two minutes of peace and quiet later, John heard shouting children down the hall. He groaned. The bell hadn't even rung yet; what was going on? He could hear several people talking at once, but couldn't specify who. All the voices of his students melded together in his head anyway. After a minute, the shouting died down, and John sat wondering what had happened. A fight, probably. There were at least three a year, so it wouldn't be all that surprising. It might have been some juniors, since their grade was the worst this year.

John came up with a few more theories before the door to his classroom opened. Hamilton stood there, a hint of panic on his face.

"Alexander," John greeted. "Is something wrong?"

"Uh...yeah..." Alexander answered. "You should come with me."

"Why? What is it?"

"Your son." John shot up from his chair and followed his coworker down the hall. "I thought you looked familiar. Philip looks just like you."

"Can you please tell me what's going on?"

"I think it'd be best to let Philip explain." Alexander opened the door to his classroom, revealing Philip and his friends sitting inside. When Philip saw his father, his head turned down and he stared at the floor. He had a black eye, bruises forming in his arms and he held his stomach tightly. Theo stood behind him, holding an ice pack against his back. John ran up to him and examined his injuries.

"What happened to you, Philip?" When he didn't get an answer, John turned to the other children. "What happened to him?" They avoided his eyes as well.

Finally, Theo spoke shyly. "George Eacker has been bothering Philip for a while."

"What does that mean?"

"It means he's been bullying me because you're gay, Dad," Philip almost shouted, causing Theo to flinch. John froze.

"Wh-what?"

"Did you really think this wouldn't happen? I get that it's 2017 and people are accepting and shit, but there's still assholes in the world who think people like you should die, and that your children shouldn't exist."

John put aside the swearing for a while to ask quietly, "How long has this been going on?"

"Seven months of school, Dad." John blinked. "You didn't even notice." John took a step forward as tears formed in Philip's eyes.

"You should have told me, Philip," John said.

"I know, but...I don't know..." Philip shrugged. John hugged him, then helped him up.

"We'll talk about this when we get home. Why don't you go to the nurse?" Philip nodded and began walking away. "The rest of you, go back to lunch." Once the children left the room, John turned to Alexander. "Thank you, so much."

"Of course," Alexander smiled faintly. "Philip is a good kid. He doesn't deserve to get hurt for no reason. No one does."

"What'd you do about Eacker?"

"Sent him to the vice principal."

"Good call." Alexander breathed out a laugh and pushed some stray hair behind his ear. _Damn, he's cute-_

John's train of thought (which was already going off the rails) was interrupted by a bell ringing.

"Oh, um, I need to get ready for my next class." Alexander turned around and headed to his desk.

"Right...I need to, too." John was about to leave when he caught a glimpse at the colored hair ties holding Alexander's ponytail. _Pink, purple, and blue..._ "You're Bi." Alexander whipped around, grabbing at the hair ties.

"Um...y-yeah...I didn't want it to be obvious..." John smirked.

"Well, would you rather be as obvious as Gil?" Alexander laughed and shook his head. "Exactly. I'm only wearing this because he made me." John lifted his arm to better show the bracelet he was wearing. When Alexander's eyes landed on it, a barely seen blush crept onto his cheeks.

Then the door opened, and students arrived to the classroom.

"I should go," John said.

"Okay. Tell me how Philip is tomorrow."

"Of course. Thanks, again." John and Alexander smiled and waved at each other, then John headed out, his heart fluttering as he walked down the hall.


	4. Chapter 4

**Aaagh! I'm sorry this took so long; I know what to do in the chapters ahead, but not the one I'm on. Therefore, this chapter kinda sucks. It's bland and hollow and I don't like it that much. The next chapters should be better, though (hopefully).**

"He's Bi. _Bi._ I never thought I'd care, and, sure, I found out under not-so-great circumstances, but...oh, my _God_." Gil just giggled as John paced around his classroom at the end of the day.

"You should ask him out, mon ami," Gil suggested. John froze and glared at his friend.

"No. Too far."

"But, you want to, no?"

"That's neither here nor there."

"Ah, but it is."

"Shut up." John's phone dinged.

 **Philip:** I'm outside

"I have to go," John said.

"Alright. Are you still going out tomorrow?" Gil asked.

"I'll try."

"I invited Hercules again, and-"

"Oh, boy." John shook his head and laughed. "This can only go well."

"John, let me-"

"Nope. I don't want to hear the end of that sentence. I'm leaving. See ya."

"Au revoir," Gil sighed.

John left his friend's room and headed to the front of the school, where he saw his son sitting alone on a bench, his curly hair waving in the breeze. Philip flinched when his father gently tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up, stood, then they walked to the car in silence. The ride home was filled with that same awkward quiet while John thought of something to say and Philip stared out the window. Once they got home, Philip ran inside and tried to hurry to his room.

"Philip," John called out. His son stopped in his tracks. "Come back here. We still need to talk." After a moment of hesitation, Philip slowly turned around and made his way back to the living room. He plopped down on the couch, keeping his arms crossed defiantly. John sat down next to him and opened his mouth to speak.

"I know what your dad brain wants to ask, but no, I don't have anything I want to say." John sighed.

"Philip, why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it should be obvious, Dad," Philip said, rolling his eyes.

"You know how busy I am. I will say I've noticed you acting a little strange, but I've just chalked that to being a teenager. You should have told me, regardless."

"I know."

"Why didn't you, then?"

"I don't know." Philip shrugged. "I guess...I guess I didn't think you could do anything about it or you'd tell me to 'work it out on my own'. I guess I thought you wouldn't care."

"Philip...why would you think I wouldn't care?"

"You don't care about anything."

"Like what?"

"Like the fact that you figured out that you're gay _six years ago_ , yet you haven't even bothered _trying_ to find someone."

"Philip, I don't think now is the time to talk-"

"Then, when is the time, Dad?" Philip yelled. " _It's been six years_. I get that you're nervous about it, but I can literally see how lonely you are sometimes. I'm actually really scared that you've given up on your life or something. I want to help somehow, but..." Philip exhaled deeply, calming down. "I don't know. I just...I don't know. I'm sorry." John leaned over to hug his son from the side.

"It's alright." After a moment, he smirked, "That was one hell of a subject change."

"I'll be fine at school," Philip assured.

"Pip, I want to trust you on that, but-"

"You can. Eacker never actually hurt me before; he just talked a lot of crap. Everything he said was wrong, anyway."

"Philip-"

"I promise I'll tell you if anything happens again."

"Really?"

"Yes. I promise." Philip held up his hand in a scout's salute.

"Okay. You can also tell Monsieur Lafayette, Mr. Washington, even Mr. Mulligan. I trust them to take care of you, and I trust you to take care of yourself."

"What about Mr. Hamilton?"

"Uh, y-yeah. Him, too."

"Hey, Dad?"

"Mhm?"

"You're blushing."

Philip giggled when John stood suddenly, asking, "You want to get a pizza tonight?"

"Oh, now look who's changing the subject," Philip mocked. "You can't distract me with pizza."

"I order whatever toppings and sides you want if you drop it."

"Pepperoni and mushrooms with spicy chicken wings, please!"

"You got it."

* * *

One Saturday every month, John and Gil would go out to a bar together to chat and, of course, have a few drinks. It had become a tradition of sorts. They would talk about their lives, letting the alcohol ease the pain of having to deal with children all day.

Sometimes, they would invite Hercules, as well. He always accepted, yet Gil still hadn't spent a night with him. Sometimes, something interesting would happen, like a bar fight across the room, or a drinking contest, or someone excitedly winning at pool or darts.

John never knew what to expect. But, whatever he was expecting, it certainly wasn't this.

"Ah, there he is!" Gil cried after being at the bar for 15 minutes. He had already downed one beer, and was now yelling at random people who walked through the door. However, John knew that Gil's tolerance was nowhere near that low. He knew whoever he was talking to. So did John.

"Wait, you invited Alexander?" John questioned, his face flushing. Gil nodded happily as the other man sat next to John, ordering a drink.

"You never let me finish my sentences. Nevertheless, I hope you don't mind," Gil said. "I thought he might want some friends."

"I don't think you're the best person for that."

"What does that mean?" Hercules snorted. "What?"

"You're crazy, man," Herc laughed.

"No, I am not! Right, Alexander?" Alexander's eyes shifted warily between the other three men as he hesitated to speak.

"You're a little crazy." Gil crossed his arms with a pout. Alexander turned to John. "How often do you guys come here?"

"Once a month," John answered. "Herc is only here sometimes, though."

"How's Philip?"

"Philip is...good, I think. I think he's still going to try to hide things from me, but he's physically okay after what that Eacker kid did to him."

"Well, that's good."

"Yeah."

And this was how the group of four was so quickly split into two groups of two. Although John was still a bit flustered while around Alexander, he found that he just couldn't stop talking with him. Even when Gil and Hercules joined their conversation every-so-often, they would soon break apart into two completely different discussions. Time passed remarkably fast, and drinks were consumed barely any slower. Once it was late, Gil and Hercules left together, their eyes dark and their cheeks red. John hardly even noticed that they were gone; his focus was taken up entirely by Alexander, and the rest of his mind simply buzzed.

It seemed like the night never ended.


	5. Chapter 5

John only remembered bits and pieces of his dream from the night before, but, from what he could recall, it was a _good_ dream. In the dream, he had walked Alexander to his apartment late at night, it being a convenient few blocks away from the bar. In the dream, John had been so drunk that, once they got there, kissing Alexander seemed like the best idea in the world. In the dream, being led into Alexander's bedroom felt so natural. In the dream, John had stayed up all night with Alexander, moving and making noises in ways he had only dreamt of before. In the dream, John woke up the next morning, then reminisced with still-closed eyes, before harshly realizing: _That was not a dream._

John's eyes shot open, immediately landing on the head of tangled, dark hair that lay next to him. Alexander was facing away from him, his naked back just inches from John's equally bare chest. Alexander's breathing was slow, meaning he was still asleep. Meanwhile, John, now wide awake with a piercing headache, had no clue what to do in this situation.

So, he panicked.

* * *

John walked into his house as quietly as possible, closing the door behind him with the faintest of _clicks_.

"Where have you been?" John jumped at the sound of Philip's voice. He turned to see his son standing in the kitchen, a blend of worry and anger on his face.

"Uh...I..."

"Jesus Christ..." Philip muttered. "You are really hungover right now." Philip went to the fridge to bring his father a bottle of water. "When was the last time that happened? Actually, when was the last time you were so drunk that you couldn't even come home?"

"Six years ago...?" John guessed.

"Yeah, six freaking years ago!" Philip slammed the water bottle on the table and John grabbed it before it fell over. "Do you know how worried I was? You didn't answer my texts or calls, you never told me if you would be staying out, and I barely got any sleep because I thought you were- _wait_." Philip took a few steps closer, looking his father over. Realization slowly took over his face, joined by a wicked smile. "Did you..."

"Did I what?" John asked hesitantly, his nerves rising again.

"Holy shi-you totally did!" Philip hopped around, cheering and screaming with laughter.

"What are you-"

"You slept with someone!"

" _Philip!_ "

"Oh, my _God_!"

"I did not-"

"Dad, I'm almost sixteen; I know what hickeys are." John flushed red, and his hand flew up to cover his neck, where his foggy memory was telling him Alexander had drunkenly made a mark. "So, who was it?"

" _What?_ "

"What was his name? I want to know."

"No, Philip. This is really inappropriate for you to talk about."

"This is also the first thing that's happened to you in forever! This is great!"

"No, it's-"

"Why? Wait, was it a girl?"

"No-"

"Then, it's great!"

"It was a one-time thing and we were drunk anyway. I doubt this was a good thing."

"Did you give him your number?"

"I probably shouldn't have, and I doubt he'll want to talk to me ever again, but, yeah."

"So, you actually like this guy."

"Yea-" John cut himself off. "Why am I talking to you about this?" He started walking away.

"You still need to tell me his name!"

"No!" John rushed into the bathroom and started a shower, hoping it would calm him down. When he stepped under the water, however, he simply sighed in minor anguish. He leaned back against the wall, ran his hands through his hair, and closed his eyes. Memories and pain shot through his head, and he nearly doubled over from the latter. "Jesus...how drunk _was_ I last night?"

He thought about that. _Very_ was his answer. He didn't know how it happened either. John had never had that much to drink any other time he had gone out with Gil, so, what went wrong? One minute, he was having a wonderful conversation with Alexander, and the next...well...maybe that was the problem. Maybe he had been so distracted by Alexander-cute...eloquent...kind...Alexander-that he hadn't realized what he was doing.

 _Shit_.

Of course he had let himself get wasted because of a stupid, childish crush. Of course he had let himself sleep with someone on a drunken whim. Of course he had been an idiot because he happened to like this guy. This was John's coworker, his son's teacher, someone he's known for, what, a week? He just had to screw up any chance he had by drinking and spending a (fantastic) night with Alexander, then bailing the next morning like an ass.

 _I'm such a fucking idiot._

John turned off the water, the shower not having helped him at all. He went to his room to change into new clothes, and it was then that his phone buzzed. He looked at it, sitting on the bed, and wondered who would be texting him at 10 in the morning on a Sunday.

 **Unknown Number:** Hey.

 **Unknown Number:** I saw your note.

 **Unknown Number:** But, that's obvious.

 **Unknown Number:** This is Alex, by the way.

 _Oh. Well, fuck._

John added the new contact before replying.

 **You:** Hey

 **You:** Listen I'm really sorry

 **Alexander:** For what?

 **You:** For literally everything that happened last night

 **You:** I didn't mean to get that drunk or to...you know...

 **Alexander:** Neither did I.

 **You:** Can we just pretend last night didn't happen?

 **Alexander:** Sure.

 **You:** Cool. Because I'd be upset if you hated me because of that

 **You:** And I still want to hang out with you

 **You:** As friends

 **Alexander:** I couldn't hate you for that if I tried.

 **Alexander:** Also, you didn't need to clarify that.

John mentally slapped himself for messing everything up once again.

 **You:** Sorry

 **Alexander:** Stop apologizing for things that you don't need to apologize for.

 **You:** Ok

 **Alexander:** You're funny.

 **You:** Thanks?

 **Alexander:** Would you be comfortable with talking about this in person?

 **You:** I guess.

The little dots that indicated typing floated on screen for a minute or so, but only a few words appeared.

 **Alexander:** Do you want to get coffee?

John's fingers froze over his phone, unsure of what how to respond.

 **You:** Sure

 **Alexander:** King's Cafe at 11:30?

 **You:** I'll be there

 **Alexander:** Great!

 **Alexander:** We can hang out

 **Alexander:** As "friends".

 **You:** What?

John never got an answer.


	6. Chapter 6

The cafe was small, but still had enough people in it so that John had a hard time finding Alexander. He was in a back corner, as far away from everyone as possible. He waved John over with a smile that made John's heart drop.

"Hey, Alex," John said awkwardly when he sat down across from his...his what? Friend? _Lover?_ The thought made John sick.

"Hello, John. How are you today?" Alexander's eyes twinkled and his voice was dripping with playfulness.

"I'm...fine."

"Just 'fine'?"

"Yeah. How are you?"

"Pretty good, actually. I haven't even had any coffee yet. Oh, speaking of..." Alexander stood. "What do you want?"

"What?" Alexander rolled his eyes.

"I'm buying you coffee, idiot. What do you want?"

"Um...surprise me." Alex smirked as he headed towards the counter. John watched the man talk to the barista, and couldn't help but wonder what he had said to make her smile. If John had heard it, would it make him smile? Of course it would. Everything Alexander did made John smile. Last night was certainly proof of that- _Dammit_. John did not want to think about the previous day anymore, but the memories kept creeping back into his mind. Why did he think it was a good idea to meet with Alexander again _the day after?_ Why was he so _stupid?_

John sighed, closing his eyes and rubbing his face.

"Tired?" John looked up, seeing Alex in front of him again.

"Exhausted," John answered.

"Maybe this will help." Alexander set a drink down on the table in front of John, one of those overly colorful and sugary frappuccinos. Meanwhile, Alex sat across from him with a regular black coffee. John stared between him and the strange drink.

"What is this?"

"You told me to surprise you," Alex shrugged. "I just did what you wanted...again."

"Well, I hope you weren't expecting a reward for-what?"

"Hm?" Alexander just slyly took a sip of his coffee.

"I-you-nothing." John reached out to his coffee as a way to ignore his own burning face. He hesitantly took a sip, immediately flinching at the amount of sugar.

"How's it taste?" Alexander asked, peering over the edge of his own drink, a smug grin on his face.

"Sweet," John coughed out.

"Just like you," Alex muttered. John's breath hitched, and his eyes went wide. Alexander was flirting with him, and if he wasn't doing so by referring to last night, John would have fallen for it.

"Please, stop doing that."

"What?"

"You know what, dammit." Alexander blinked, still feigning innocence. "You know, I was being serious when I said I wanted to forget about last night."

"You also said you were okay with talking about it."

"I...ugh...can we forget about it after we talk?"

"I suppose."

"Fine. Let's talk." Alexander nodded and set down his cup, sitting as if he was in an important business meeting.

"First of all, you should know that I'm not mad at you. You know that, right?" John looked at Alex warily.

"...Yeah, I guess."

"Great. Second, I'm sorry about the flirting. I, uh, tend to go too far sometimes."

"Yeah," John breathed.

"Again, I apologize. Third...I actually like you. And I get it. You feel bad about last night. I do, too. I'm pretty sure it was mostly my fault, and it happened way too soon, and-and...I want us to start over."

"What do you mean?"

"Did you not pick up that this is a date?"

"Uh...I was a little suspicious."

"Well, that's what this is." Alex smiled shyly.

"I...okay."

"So, can we have a redo?"

"Sure." John glanced down at the sugary drink still in front of him and frowned. "But I think we should start with an actual lunch."

* * *

 **Aargh this was short. Oh well.**

 **I have so many things I need to write, I just hope I can actually figure out how to write it all.**

 **Anyway...I need sleep.**


	7. Chapter 7

The rest of John's day out with Alexander was great, and he wasn't even being sarcastic. They had nice conversations, much like the ones they had had the previous night. John ended up getting back home an hour or so later than he had wanted to, but he didn't mind.

A note was left on the table, reading, _At Stephen's house. Stop freaking out. ~ Your child._ John laughed, taking out his phone to text Philip. It was then that he realized his phone had been on silent, and he had missed several messages from Gil.

 **BordeldeMerde:** I need your help.

 **BordeldeMerde:** Answer me!

 **BordeldeMerde:** JOHN

 **BordeldeMerde:** S'IL VOUS PLAÎT

 **BordeldeMerde:** HELP DAMMIT

John sighed, his smile fading. He knew what this would be about, and he didn't want to deal with it.

 **You:** What?

 **BordeldeMerde:** I AM PANICKING

 **You:** I can see that. Can you explain?

 **BordeldeMerde:** Dieu d'accord

 **BordeldeMerde:** Last night happened. You got with Alexander and I finally got with Hercules. Blah blah blah.

 **You:** Yeah. Also don't remind me of that

 **BordeldeMerde:** Ok. So I woke up this morning next to him in his bed of course. But I didn't leave like I did the others. I just stayed there and I didn't know why. Then Hercules woke up too and we started talking and I started flirting with him because why not? I guess we weren't entirely sober yet because we ended up...doing it again...

 **You:** Oh. Well then.

 **BordeldeMerde:** Yeah. I mean I was fine with it.

 **BordeldeMerde:** Like 100% for it all the way yessss

 **You:** I get it geez

 **BordeldeMerde:** Anyway we started talking again and now he's making me food and I don't know what to do

 **You:** About what

 **BordeldeMerde:** About everything! This situation. This relationship. If this is relationship. Everything.

 **You:** Ok well do you feel awkward?

 **BordeldeMerde:** Not really

 **You:** Do you legitimately like him?

 **BordeldeMerde:** Yes

 **You:** Now pretended you didn't have sex with him twice. Do you still like him?

Gil didn't respond for minute or so.

 **BordeldeMerde:** Yes

 **You:** I know what you need to do.

 **You:** Go out with him.

 **BordeldeMerde:** What?

 **You:** He clearly likes you. You like him. This is obvious.

 **BordeldeMerde:** But that would be weird...

 **You:** No, you sleeping with someone you like and not doing anything about it is weird

 **BordeldeMerde:** Prove it

 **You:** I just got back from a date with Alexander and it went well

 **BordeldeMerde:** I hate you

 **You:** Just give him a chance. You've been trying to hook up with him since forever. And just like you said: It is difficult to find the one if you never look in the first place.

 **BordeldeMerde:** I hope that you burn

John chose not to respond, deciding to let Gil deal with his own issues.

* * *

Gil groaned, gently dropping his head on the table.

"Is everything okay?" Hercules asked.

"Hm? Oh, yes," Gil muttered. "I'm just tired."

"Are you sure?" Gil lifted his head, sighing. His hair had been left down, and it fell in tendrils around his head and in front of his face, impeding his view of Hercules, who stood across the room.

"Hercules...is this just a one-or, two time thing?"

"Um..." Hercules stuttered, sounding uncomfortable. "Do you want it to be?'

"N-No...I don't think so. I just...wanted to know." Gil sighed, "Most of my 'relationships' don't last longer than a night, anymore."

"Well," Hercules walked over, placing two plates of food down on the table and sitting next to Gil. "If you want, we can try an actual thing." Gil snorted a bit.

"I haven't really been good with commitment lately...I think I've forgotten it..." Hercules gently pushed some of Gil's hair behind his ear, allowing them a clear view of each other's face. However, Gil didn't look up.

"That's fine. I don't expect you to commit to me or anything. But, I'm willing to try something." Gil noticed that his lover was avoiding saying something quite obvious.

"Something?"

"You know...a date or something...maybe...I don't know..."

Gil chuckled at Hercules' nervousness. "...Alright."

* * *

"Woah, wait, really?" Stephen asked as he dropped a few pieces of popcorn into his mouth. He and Philip were playing Mario Kart in his room, and Philip had just told him what had happened that morning.

"Yeah," Philip said. "He totally did. He won't even tell me who it was."

"Well, that's kinda private, isn't it?"

"Sure, but what if it's someone we know?"

"The only other adults we know are our parents and teachers." Stephen snickered. "What if he got with Theo's dad?"

"Dude!" Philip cried. "Come on, don't be weird." Stephen just laughed.

"How are you jealous over something like this?"

"I-I'm not!" Philip argued, his face growing pink. "I wouldn't even be jealous if anyone was with Theo, anyway."

"Sure..." Stephen got a handful of popcorn thrown at him. "Fine, I'll stop," Stephen said, brushing crumbs off of his shirt. "But, seriously, who else could it be that we know?" A wash of realization came over Philip.

"Holy shit..."

"What?"

Philip spoke in a whisper, as if a nonexistent person nearby wasn't meant to hear. "What if it's Mr. Hamilton? Dad's been freaking out over him ever since they met."

"Alright, but be realistic here. Have they ever even actually had a conversation?"

"How am I supposed to know that?"

"Well, would they?"

"Maybe a little...my dad is super awkward and shy, though...I don't know. Maybe not."

"It's probably just some random guy he met at the bar while he was drunk," Stephen reasoned.

"Yeah, probably."


	8. Chapter 8

**Merry Chrysler to everyone who celebrates it! *whisper whisper* Yeah, I know it's Christmas. *whisper whisper* I'm referencing a vine. Just go with the joke. *whisper* Screw you, too, voice in my head!**

 **...**

 **Are...are you still reading this? *cough* I'm good. Just...ignore me...hehehe...**

John didn't realize how much he was dreading Monday until he woke up, his alarm blaring. He groggily got ready for work, then made himself a cup of coffee. Philip slowly walked into the kitchen.

"Morning, Philip," John said.

"Morning, Dad," Philip yawned. As he made himself breakfast, the boy eyed his father suspiciously. "Are you, uh, are you going into work today?"

"Yes. Why wouldn't I?"

"I just thought...never mind. I was thinking about something else."

As John drove them to the school, he caught Philip frequently glancing over at him. Meanwhile, the thought slowly dawned on John that he would have to see Alexander that day. He also realized that he was pretty happy about it.

As he headed to his classroom, John hoped that he would get a chance to talk to Gil about the previous weekend. However, Gil wasn't at his usual place on John's desk; someone else was.

"Alex," John greeted. He smirked as he slowly made his way to the desk, where Alexander sat, his legs crossed.

"Good morning, John." Alex smiled flirtatiously while John walked around him to put his things on his desk. "How are you?"

"Good," John said. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"I work here."

"I mean, sitting on my desk." Alexander just shrugged.

"Would you rather me sit somewhere else?" John's face grew warm at the suggestive tone in Alexander's voice.

"Shut up..." Alex snickered. "It's not funny."

"That's a matter of opinion." John smiled and leaned forward, nuzzling against Alexander's neck.

"Fine." John gently kissed Alex's neck, making his new boyfriend sigh in content. "You want to go out this weekend?"

"We're already planning more dates?" Alex giggled.

"Sure."

"Pfft okay. What do you want to do?"

"I don't know." John stood straighter and wrapped his arms around Alexander's chest, speaking quietly into his ear. "We could see a movie or something."

"Oh, original."

"Well, what do you have in mind?"

"Um...you know, a movie sounds pretty good." John laughed.

"See, it's not that easy." Alex rolled his eyes. "Can you get off of my desk now?"

"Hmm..." Alex tapped his chin as if he was thinking. "Only if I get a kiss."

"I'm not kissing you just so you'll get off of my desk."

"Well, you wouldn't push me, would you?"

"I might." Alexander gasped.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Are you sure about that?"

"I'm hopeful." John sighed, caving under Alex's puppy eyes.

"Alright." Alexander turned his head and pursed his lips as John leaned closer.

"Good morning!" Alexander nearly fell off the desk altogether when Gil burst through the door, Hercules in tow. "So sorry for interrupting your little moment, but you must remember that you are in a school." Hercules' face screwed up in confusion.

"But-" Gil covered Herc's mouth quickly, glaring at him.

"No. No inappropriate things can occur if children are present. _Especially_ in storage closets." Gil winked at Hercules, who snorted and looked away.

"You two seem to be getting along," John pointed out.

"Ah, oui, but it's more surprising that the two of you are so close already. After all, John, you aren't really one for drunkenly sleeping with people."

"Yeah, and how many one night stands have you had? Yet you and Herc are a thing now."

Gil clicked his tongue. "Touché." He gasped when he looked at Alexander, as if he just remembered he was there. "He's sitting in my spot!"

"He can sit there if he wants." Alex and John smiled at each other, knowing that this wasn't the case just a few minutes ago.

Gil scoffed, "You two are so gay."

"No, I'm not," Alex said.

"I mean, you're cute." Gil focused on John. "And you're happy." John blinked.

"Wh-Wha-" The bell rang and Gil spun around.

"We had better go." Gil rushed out, Hercules following him again.

"What did that mean?" Alexander wondered.

"I...I'm not sure," John said. "I mean, I am happy, but I don't know why it's so important." Alex frowned a little as he hopped off the desk.

"Alright. I'll talk to you later." Alex pecked John on the cheek, once, twice, then waved as he left the room. John had to turn around to hide his blush as students walked in.

* * *

"I swear it's someone I know of," Philip said as he sat next to his friends at lunch. The topic was completely unprovoked, and his friends groaned at the mention.

"Why are you bringing this up now?" Stephen asked.

"Because he never even said it was some random guy. He's just hiding it from me."

"That doesn't mean it _wasn't_ some random guy," Theo said.

"Yeah," Adrienne agreed. "It just means he doesn't want you all up in his business."

"But this is such a big deal!"

"Not for us," Georges muttered.

"Guys-"

"Listen, as much as we _totally_ care," Stephen rolled his eyes, "can we not talk about who your dad slept with while we're eating?" Georges and Adrienne both simultaneously dropped their sandwiches onto their trays and pretended to gag.

"You guys suck." Philip grumpily crossed his arms. Theo gently patted Philip on the shoulder, making him blush. He stuffed his mouth with food in an effort to ignore the warmth of his face.


	9. Chapter 9

The week went by quickly for John, but slowly for Philip.

Everyday, John would eat lunch in Alexander's room as if it were a miniature date. They would chat and joke, and John sometimes got so distracted that he forgot to eat. The two of them planned their date for the weekend, and flirted with each other at a level too high to be allowed in a school.

Meanwhile, Philip was getting more confused and frustrated everyday. His father had told Philip that he was going out on Saturday. _On a date._ Philip nearly screamed in excitement, because something was actually happening in his father's love life. Unfortunately, he still refused to say who he was going out with, so Philip was left guessing.

Finally, Saturday arrived, bringing excitement and nervousness along with it. John spent nearly twenty minutes just trying to find the right outfit to wear, even going as far as to ask Philip if his outfit looked good.

"Dad," Philip had said, "you look fine."

"Are you sure?" John asked.

Philip sighed and sat up farther on the couch. "You're watching a movie and going to dinner, not a ball."

"I just...I don't know..."

"Then go change."

"But he'll be here soon..."

"That's not my problem. Do whatever." John frowned and went back to his room. Five minutes later, the doorbell rang. Philip looked up, contemplating whether or not to answer the door. He got up, anyway, and walked to the entryway. He looked out the window, seeing a car in the driveway. "Dad!"

"I'll be there in a minute," his father's muffled voice yelled back. Philip took this as his chance to see who this mysterious man was who was dating his dad.

Philip opened the door and froze. He took a small, shocked step back, his eyes widening. "No way." In front of him stood his history teacher, Mr. Hamilton, who looked a bit surprised, as well. " _Daaaad!_ "

"I heard you the first time, Philip," John said as he walked up to where his son was standing. He smiled at his date, saying, "Hi, Alex."

"Dad, what the heck?" Philip hissed.

"What? I told you I was going out." John grinned smugly.

"You didn't say you were going to be with _him_."

"Okay...your point?" John squeaked a bit and giggled when Philip pushed him out the door. "What are you-"

"Well, hurry up! You can't be late!"

"Phil-"

"Go!" Philip shoved his father once more, making him fall into his date. "Have fun! Bye!" Philip waved and quickly closed the door.

Alexander cleared his throat. "Well then..."

"Yeah...that's Philip for you," John laughed. "Sorry."

"It's quite alright." Alex reached out his hand. "Now, shall we go on this date of ours?" John took his hand.

"Of course."

* * *

Less than a half an hour later, Philip was pacing back and forth in Stephen's bedroom. Stephen, Adrienne, and Georges watched him while they waited for Theo to arrive, as well.

"Where is she?" Philip muttered after they had been waiting for 10 minutes.

"She said she was going to be late," Stephen reminded his friend. "You kind of planned this completely out of the blue." Philip grumbled in response and continued pacing. A few more minutes later, Theo walked in, and Philip immediately began talking.

"Oh, finally. Okay, guys, great news: I was right! I was totally right! I knew it!" Philip was pumping his fist into the air and jumping around, while his friends stared at him in confusion.

"Um...What are you talking about?" Theo asked.

"It's Mr. Hamilton! My dad's with Mr. Hamilton and I knew it!" Philip's friends all looked at him with blank eyes. "What?"

Stephen took a deep breath before responding, "You called everyone over-to _my house_ -to tell us about your dad's stupid love life?"

Philip responded to Stephen's glare with, "...Yes?"

"Get out of my house."

"Wha-"

"No, I don't care-"

"Boys." Stephen and Philip quieted at Theo's calm interruption. "Stephen, Philip is just excited. You're the only one of us who still has two functional parents, so I'm sure it's difficult for you to understand. You need to keep in mind that Philip believes that his father hasn't had much love in his life, and he wants his family to be happy. This is completely normal." Stephen frowned.

"Yeah, see?" Philip crossed his arms.

"However, Philip," Theo continued, "it is a tiny bit abnormal and annoying that you constantly feel the need to discuss details about your father's personal life with your friends." It was Philip's turn to frown.

"But-" Philip shut his mouth when Theo placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Philip, we're happy for you, really, but we don't need to know _everything._ "

"I know..."

"Although, I will admit, it's certainly surprising that he's actually with Mr. Hamilton."

"I know!"

Before Philip could start talking about it more, Theo said, "That's enough of that. Since we're all here, we might as well do something fun, yeah? How about some video games?"

* * *

The date went better than expected. It was wonderful, actually. They watched a terrible horror movie before dinner, giving them plenty to talk about while they ate. Then, Alexander drove John back home, and was convinced to go inside. He wasn't sure what John was planning, but he had two glasses and a bottle of wine, so it didn't really matter.

"Philip's staying the night at his friend's house," John said once they had both had a glass of wine to drink.

"Okay," Alex replied, raising an eyebrow.

"So..."

"So...?" Alex continued to feign confusion. John just smirked and rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you stay here tonight?"

"Hmm...why should I?"

"Well..." John set down his glass and stepped forward. "It's late already, and you've had alcohol, so you can't really drive."

"Uh-huh...are those the only reasons?" Alexander gave John a quick kiss.

"No..."

"Well, why else should I stay?"

"Because I want you to."

"John!" Alex faked a gasp. "It's only the first date. You're so eager."

"It's not like we haven't done this before." John kissed Alex again.

"True...but I don't know...you'll have to convince me."

"I can do that," John hummed and kissed Alexander with more passion, wrapping his arms around Alex's waist. Alex kissed him back, and the next thing he knew, he was exhausted, and falling asleep next to John in bed.


	10. Chapter 10

Alexander was warm when he woke up, which was certainly strange for him. He usually woke up in a cold bed, alone. However, on this particular morning, he wasn't. John lay next to him, asleep. His arms were loosely wrapped around Alex's waist, and his eyes were closed, gently fluttering every-so-often. Alex smiled tiredly and nuzzled into John's neck.

They lay there for a while longer, until Alex realized that John still wasn't awake. Alexander frowned a bit and sat up, getting out of John's grasp. John didn't react, and simply rolled over. Alexander frowned even more and made his way out of bed, stumbling a bit on his tired and sore legs. He put on his shirt and stole a pair of John's sweatpants to wear, as well.

Alex took a look back at John, finding that the man was still fast asleep. Alexander sighed, but smiled a bit, and quietly left the room, figuring that he might as well explore the house a little.

Looking back, he probably should have just stayed in bed.

John's house was nice. It was kept clean and neat, and each room was full of matching colors and little items to add to the atmosphere. Alexander liked it.

"Do you want some coffee?" Alexander jumped out of his skin when he heard someone talking to him. He turned towards the kitchen and found someone there, leaning casually against the counter and smirking slightly.

"Philip," Alexander muttered. The boy nodded and turned back to the coffee machine, turning it on. "I was told you were at your friend's house..." Alex blushed a bit.

"Oh, I was. He kicked me out this morning. You're good." Philip winked at him, making him blush more. "So, coffee?"

"Uh..." Philip was in the middle of reaching for coffee mugs when he froze and turned to face Alexander again.

"You weren't _leaving_ , were you?"

"I-what?"

"Because I'll find a way to get you fired if you were about to leave."

"No, no I wasn't. Why...why do you of all people care so much?"

Philip sighed. "Because, Mr. Hamilton, I kinda need you to stay."

"Why?"

Philip sighed again, as if the answer was obvious. "You make him, happy, Hamilton. He thinks you love him. I don't know how true that really is, but it's good enough for me. I...I don't know if he ever felt like this for mom, or if she really loved him, but he needs someone. Some kind of affection that he doesn't have. And I think he might have that with you."

The only thing Alex could think to say was "Oh."

"So, do you want coffee or not?"

"Um...sure." Philip smiled.

"Sit down. How do you like it?"

"Plain black, please," Alexander said, taking a seat at the dining table and shyly staring at his hands. He certainly did like John, but he never thought of their intimacy as _love_. At least, not yet. He also never really realized that by dating this man, he would also have to deal with his son, whom Alex teaches. Not awkward at all. Alexander attempted to run his hand through his hair, only to get it caught in a bunch of tangles. Philip placed a steaming cup of coffee in front of him.

"Listen, Hamilton," Philip said softer. "I'm not saying you _have_ to stay and love him. I'm just saying that if you ever doubt that he likes you, just listen to me. He likes you. A lot." Philip's face suddenly darkened again. "So don't you dare break his heart." Philip glanced up and smiled, then walked down the hall as he casually said, "Enjoy your coffee."

Alexander sat there for a moment in stunned silence. "I never thought a sophomore could be so terrifying..." He mumbled to himself.

"Oh, he's not that bad." Alex jumped again when a pair of arms slid down his chest, but quickly calmed down when he realized it was John. The man must have just woken up, because his voice was low and rough. It made Alexander blush. "He's just...passionate, I guess you could say." John nuzzled his face into Alex's neck.

"You call threatening me _passion?_ "

"Well...yes." Alex snickered and rolled his eyes.

"I'm almost scared to drink this," Alexander said, hesitantly picking up the coffee mug in front of him.

"I'm sure it's fine."

"Hmm..." Alexander sat there for a moment in John's grasp, thinking over what Philio had said to him. "Do you like me, John?" John's head lifted off Alex's shoulder.

"Of course. Why?"

"I was just wondering." Alex shrugged. "I like you, too."

"Well, that's good to know." John sat down next to Alex with a smirk on his face that disappeared when he saw Alexander's furrowed eyebrows. John moved closer. "What's wrong, Alex?" Alexander shrugged. John frowned and hugged his boyfriend from the side.

"Hey, John?" Alex muttered.

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you something kind of personal?"

"Um...sure."

"Your wife. What happened with her?"

John was silent for a while. "Oh."

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"No, no, it's fine. She's not dead or anything. Just..." John ran a hand through his hair. "I, uh, I didn't figure out that I was gay until about six years ago. By then, Martha and I had already had Philip. He was nine by then, I think. He actually took it pretty well once we explained everything to him. Martha..." John sighed. "She was upset, understandably. She didn't see anything wrong with me being gay, necessarily, just that I came out after we had already been together for so long. It wasn't like I didn't love her, though...just not the way she loved me. We divorced, and Philip and I moved here."

"Ah..." Alex bit his lip. "Do you still talk to her?"

John shrugged. "Not really. She wanted to have space and start over with...with her life, basically. I still feel bad..."

"For what? It seems like you two came to some kind of compromise, right?"

"Well, yeah, but...the thing is, I really couldn't tell if I loved her in that sense or not. We were friends for years, and she made me so happy, but I guess I mistook that for romance...I don't really know. All I know is that...she thought I truly loved her...and I broke her heart..."

Alexander rubbed circles into John's back. "It's...it's okay, John. You didn't understand yourself, yet. That's okay."

"Yeah, well..." John shook his head. "I'm gonna get some coffee." John stood and went to get himself a cup. Alex looked down at the table and hugged his arms close to his chest.

"Sorry about asking. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

"It's okay, Alex. It's something you should probably know about."

"...Okay..."

John turned around and walked back to Alexander. Before he sat down, John leaned down to Alex's side and kissed him sweetly. He whispered, "I promise I won't break your heart." Alexander kissed John back.

"And I promise that I'll never break yours."


	11. Chapter 11

The next four months or so went by quickly. Every morning at school, John would meet up with Alexander, greeting him with a kiss. And, every weekend, they would go out together, with one of them usually spending the night at the other's home.

Philip got used to the routine pretty fast. He didn't mind his father's relationship; he thought it was kind of cute, in fact. Unless it was the end of the school day, when it took him twenty minutes to pry his father away from Mr. Hamilton.

"Dad, come on," Philip would groan. "I want to go home."

"In a minute, Philip," John would say, waving him off. "We're talking." Philip would have no choice but to leave the adults alone, because they looked so happy together.

Philip didn't even mind having Mr. Hamilton in his house so often. Even though he was a teacher, Philip never felt awkward about it. Mr. Hamilton turned out to be pretty cool. History class suddenly became much easier.

There was one day in class where George Eacker kept throwing things at Philip-mostly papers that said nasty things-so Mr. Hamilton talked to the English teacher, and then Eacker had to write an essay about how gay marriage was a good thing. Philip had never laughed harder than when Mr. Hamilton told him about that during dinner one night.

When school let out for winter break, Philip was told some interesting news.

"So, it's winter break," John said on their way home.

"I know, Dad," Philip replied. "I've been counting down the days since school started." His father chuckled a bit.

"I, uh, I need to ask you something kind of important." Philip looked at his father. The man looked extremely anxious.

"Um...okay..."

"Do you, uh..." John cleared his throat. "Do you like having Alexander around?"

"Oh. Well, not as much as you do, obviously." Philip's attempt at a joke fell flat. "Um...why do you ask, Dad?"

"I just...I want to know, is all."

"Okay. Well, he's pretty cool. He's nice and helps with stuff."

"Okay."

"Uh...was there a reason you wanted to know?"

"I, uh...yeah."

"What is it?" John was quiet for a little while, and in that time, a realization hit Philip. "Oh, my God, are you going to propose?" John choked on air, his face turning red.

"No, no, no. No. No, I'm not. It hasn't even been half a year. I'm not...no."

"Then, what is it?"

"I just...I invited him to stay with us over break, and I wanted to make sure you'd be okay with that."

"Wait, you invited him over and _then_ asked me if I'd be fine with it?"

"I know. I'm sorry. I just...we were talking about what we're doing over winter break, and he said he wasn't really going to do anything, so I asked. It just kinda slipped out and it wasn't like I could just back out of it, because he agreed, and-"

"Dad, Dad, chill. It's fine. I know you like him a lot, and I'm pretty sure he likes you a lot, too. He's been good to you so far, so he's fine. As long as he stays good to you, I won't have any problems with him. Besides, my history grade went up, like, two letters already because of his help. I can't really give that up, now can I?" John chuckled softly.

"Okay, Pip."

"When is he coming over?"

"Tonight, I think. He had to pack some things."

"Okay."

"Why?"

"I have to know when to set up my prank."

"Philip, you can't prank him."

"I'm pretty sure I can."

"You shouldn't. It's incredibly rude to do that to someone when they're going to be staying with you for three weeks."

"You just don't want me to because he's your boyfriend."

"That too." Philip looked at his father for a while. His eyes were so bright and cheerful whenever he talked about his boyfriend, Philip realized.

"I won't prank him, then."

"Thank you." Philip smiled at his father, who smiled in return.

"Well, I probably won't."


	12. Chapter 12

Philip was, indeed, a little shit. He was still going to prank Mr. Hamilton, of course, and now he had an idea how. He just hoped Stephen would come through. Philip had texted his friend about his plan the second he got home, and, understandably, Stephen had said that he wanted nothing to do with the teachers' relationship. However, after an hour of begging and promises to do things in return, Stephen finally agreed to help. Unfortunately, Philip's prank wouldn't happen until Christmas, so Philip was dying of excitement.

He was only slightly afraid of something going horribly wrong.

* * *

John tried not to run to the door when the doorbell rang. He opened the door for Alexander, who smiled at him and stepped inside. Alex dropped his bag onto the floor so he could hug John's neck as they kissed. John grinned against Alex's lips, muttering a muffled "Hey."

Alexander pulled away after a moment, saying, "Hi." Alex played with John's hair while he asked, "It is okay that I stay here, right?"

"Yes." John nodded.

"Philip doesn't mind?"

"Philip doesn't mind. Although, I'd watch your back. He said he wanted to prank you."

"Okay," Alex snickered. "It's not like I'll leave you because your son is messing around."

John blushed a bit. He wanted to say "I love you" at that moment, but he didn't. He and Alex had never said that to each other before, and John wasn't sure if Alexander was ready for that. So, John just said, "I appreciate it." Alexander kissed him again.

Just then, Philip walked out of his room, saying, "It'd be great if you two could not make out while I'm around." John jumped and Alexander laughed at him.

"I apologize, Philip." Alex said. Philip held back a smile and shook his head, heading to the living room.

"I'll bring your stuff to my room," John told Alexander, grabbing his bag and kissing him on the cheek. John walked off down the hall. Alex watched him go (he had a nice butt, after all), then went to the living room, where Philip was sitting on the couch, watching Netflix.

"Hey, Philip," Alex greeted, only slightly awkwardly.

"Sup, Hamilton," Philip responded, not looking away from the television.

"So, um...you're okay with me staying here, right?"

"I mean, I don't really have a choice, because I'm a child, but I honestly don't care, anyway.

"Oh...are you sure?"

"Yes, Hamilton. As long as you don't do anything weird with my dad right in front of me."

"Right." Alexander tried to ignore that he was blushing when John came back out of his room. John wrapped an arm around Alex's waist and pecked him on the cheek.

"What do you guys want to do for dinner?" John asked. Alexander shrugged.

"I want to catch up on this," Philip said, gesturing to the television, right when a young girl blew up a bridge with her mind. "So, I don't want to go out."

"Alright. I guess we can just order something."

"You should make cookies, too."

"I don't know, Philip-"

"Cookies?" Alexander interrupted. "I want cookies." John looked at Alexander's excited face for a moment.

"I guess I'm making cookies, then." John headed to the kitchen while Philip and Alex cheered and high-fived.

Alex followed John to the kitchen, saying, "I'll help you."

"Okay," John smiled.

The two of them got to work, getting all the ingredients from the pantry and fridge, and putting them on the counter. Alexander ate a spoonful of sugar, which probably wasn't too good of an idea. Still, John kissed him, saying he had sweet lips. They had some trouble cracking the eggs and pouring the flour, so their hands became sticky and their clothes became dusty white. They didn't mind, though, and instead laughed about it. They also accidentally ate half the bag of chocolate chips. The whole time, they thought they were sneaking the chocolate while the other wasn't looking, but they both secretly knew what the other was doing. They moved around each other, yet still stood close, whispering and giggling as they messily made the cookies.

At one point, Alex glanced up and caught Philip watching them with a small smile on his face. The boy quickly looked away, but kept smiling.

It took longer than normal, but the cookies were eventually put in the oven. John and Alexander cleaned up the kitchen, and still had a few minutes to spare before the cookies were done. John decided to spend the time by pressing Alex against the counter and making out with him, but Philip soon stopped that by yelling, "I'm still here, you weirdos!" John blushed while Alexander laughed at him.

Philip finally got off the couch when the cookies were done, and the three people ate the cookies together. They all enjoyed themselves and knew that they would for the rest of winter break.

Then, they realized that they had never ordered anything to eat like they had planned.


	13. Chapter 13

Christmas. It was finally Christmas. Philip was incredibly excited. Stephen had (grumpily) dropped off the crucial part of the prank the day before, and Philip hid it in his room until the perfect time.

Thankfully, neither John not Alexander knew that Philip was planning anything. Their ignorance was bliss. Throughout the beginning of winter break, Alexander and John spent most of their time decorating, cuddling, or, occasionally, making out. It was pretty nice.

On Christmas morning, Alexander found out that John could be just as excited about Christmas as any small child. Alexander was tickled awake, which sent him into a laughing and coughing fit at once.

"John! John, stop!" Alex giggled, trying to push John's hands away. "John, we're adults, please!" John eventually pulled his hands away from Alex's sides, instead kissing him.

"Merry Christmas," John whispered against Alexander's lips.

"Merry Christmas," Alexander said. John sat up, straddling Alex's hips.

"I'm going to make breakfast, and then we can open presents, and then we can watch a bunch of Christmas movies."

"Okay." Alexander ran his hands up and down John's arms, smiling up at him. "What's for breakfast?"

"Hm...I'm thinking pancakes, eggs, bacon...maybe a little bit of you..." John leaned down and kissed at Alex's neck.

"John," Alexander chuckled, "I appreciate it, but I'm actually hungry."

John sighed. "Alright." He got off of Alexander and put more clothes on, then headed to the door.

"Hey, John?"

John turned back. "Yeah?"

"I...um..." Alexander smiled flatly. "Thanks for letting me stay here."

"Oh. Yeah, of course." John smiled and stepped out.

Alexander sighed, rubbing his face. All he wanted to say was "I love you." He was so bad at that. They had never said such a thing to each other; Alexander couldn't very well start out of nowhere.

Alex stayed in bed until he smelled bacon cooking in the kitchen. He got up and got dressed, then walked into the kitchen, where John and Philip were waiting.

"Good morning, Philip," Alexander greeted. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Hammy," Philip responded. Alexander sighed and chuckled.

John set out plates of food for everyone, and he and his son ate quickly, excited to open their gifts. Alexander laughed when John and Philip rushed over to the tree.

"Hurry up, Alex," John called out. Alexander sighed and brought his plate of food to the tree with him. Philip had begun to stick small ornaments in his hair.

They spent the next hour or two unwrapping presents. John and Alexander sat next to each other, John with his arm around Alex. Philip sat across from them, occasionally glancing up and smiling at them. Alexander and Philip had actually teamed up on a gift for John, giving him an easel, two canvases, and a paint set, because John apparently enjoyed making art. John got Philip a bunch of shirts with sassy remarks on them, like, "Excuse me while I pretend to care." Alexander got him a New York Yankees hat, which he put on right away, after he got all the ornaments out of his hair. John had bought Alex an expensive tie, and he got a passionate kiss in return, which was one of the best gifts he had gotten all day.

When they finished opening presents, the three of them sat on the couch, with John and Alex cuddling on one side and Philip curled up on the other. They watched _Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer_ , _Frosty the Snowman_ , and _Santa Claus is Coming to Town_. They ate various snack foods for lunch, then watched more movies.

Finally, at the end of the day, they had Christmas dinner. It wasn't much compared to some other people, but it was nice. All three of them tried to make ham puns, and the only successful ones were about Alex's name, but it was funny, nonetheless.

After they ate, Alexander and John went back to cuddling on the couch, but Philip went back to setting up his prank. They had gotten a cake to celebrate the holiday, so Philip took it out to use. Then, he called out to his dad and Alexander, bringing them over for dessert. Philip made sure Alexander saw him wink at his father, who was confused by the gesture. The boy cut the cake into slices, passed them out, then waited.

 _Three._

 _Two._

 _One._

"Um...John? What is this?" Both Philip and John looked up at Alexander's question. Alexander had found something on top of his slice of cake, and now held it out.

It was a ring.

John almost dropped his cake. "Um..."

"Yeah, Dad, what is it?" Philip pressed, smirking. John put down his plate, figuring it out.

"Philip, what the hell?"

"What?"

"This isn't funny."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm serious, Philip."

"So am I."

"Go to your room."

"What? Why?"

"Philip." John's voice began to raise. Philip sighed deeply and went down the hall. John rubbed his eyes and shook his head. "I'm so sorry, Alex."

Alexander was still standing there, holding out the ring, confused. "I...What's happening? John, what is this?"

"It's nothing. Philip's just pranking you."

"Oh." Alexander was surprised by the disappointment in his voice.

"I mean, I love you, but I'm not going to do something like that so early." They were quiet for a minute.

"You...what?"

John's eyes widened, and his cheeks became warn. "Sorry. I-I didn't mean-"

"I love you, too." They went silent again. "So...you aren't-"

"No, I'm not."

"Okay. I'm not upset, you know."

"Okay."

Alexander cleaned the cake frosting off of the ring, then stood in front of John, who was looking down in shame. Alex took hold of John's hand, then pressed the ring into it. "I want you to hold onto it. For later."

John met Alex's eyes, blushing. "Okay..." Alexander leaned forward and gently kissed John.

"I love you, John."

"I love you, too," John muttered. Alex smiled.

"This was a nice Christmas," Alexander said.

"I suppose so..."

"It was."

"Okay."

Alexander kissed John again. John kissed him back.


	14. Chapter 14

**Special thanks to reader SparkIntoAFlame for this idea!**

John felt that because he was a fairly good parent, he was used to dealing with someone smaller than him having nightmares. Of course, he assumed that only applied to children. Apparently, it also applied to boyfriends.

It was a few days after Christmas, at around two in the morning. John was cuddling Alexander under the sheets, sleeping peacefully, until Alexander suddenly head butted him in the chin.

John woke up instantly, rubbing at his jaw. He looked around for the culprit, finding that Alexander was twitching wildly and clinging to John like a Puerto Rican koala. Alex's face was scrunched up and he was faintly muttering things in his sleep. John frowned and decided to wake Alex up by gently shaking him and saying his name. Alexander eventually woke up with a start, his eyes darting around and his breathing heavy.

"Alex?" John whispered. "Are you okay?"

Alexander didn't look at John for a moment. When he did, he said, "Yeah. Yeah, I...I'm okay." Alex sat up, pulling himself out of John's arms. He took a shaky breath and covered his face with his hands. John sat up, as well, and wrapped his arms around Alex's waist. He took note of how Alexander flinched.

"Did you have a nightmare?" John wondered.

Alex nodded. "Yeah. But I'm fine. It's just...it's just a stupid nightmare." Alex's voice had cracked twice.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Alexander quickly shook his head.

"Why not? You know it will come true if you don't talk about it." John knew it was a childish thing to say, but he didn't care.

"That's irrelevant. It already happened," Alex mumbled.

"Ah." John chewed on his lip for a minute. "You still don't want to talk about it, though?"

"Not really."

"Okay."

John just hugged Alexander in silence for a while.

"I want to go back to sleep," Alex said.

"Okay." They lay back down in bed. John pulled the blankets over them as Alex lay his head on John's chest. John fell asleep long before Alexander did.

* * *

Alexander woke up again a little after five. His few more hours of sleep had been restless. He managed to get out of bed without waking John, and left the room aiming to get a cup of coffee from the kitchen. However, when he got there, he saw Philip sitting at the table, wearing a large sweatshirt, with a cup on the table next to him. He was resting his head on one hand, using the other to look through his phone. He looked exhausted.

"Philip?" Alex quietly called out. "What are you doing up already?" Philip didn't even look up from his phone. It was still dark outside, so the house didn't look much different. The light from Philip's phone was the only thing to illuminate his face. "Philip?" Alexander tried again. He turned on the light, but Philip didn't even react to that. Alex sighed and turned around, looking in the cabinets for the coffee.

"I already made a pot," Philip faintly said. Alexander turned back around, but Philip was still staring at his phone. Alex glanced at the coffee pot, seeing that it did indeed have hot coffee still in it.

"Uh...thanks." Alex silently poured himself a cup of coffee. He slowly sipped at it as he awkwardly leaned against the counter. He felt the need to say something to Philip, but he didn't know what. He looked around until his eyes finally landed on Philip's sweatshirt. "University of South Carolina, huh?"

Philip finally looked up, but only for a second. "Uh...yeah. My parents went there."

"That's cool." Alexander nodded, realizing he didn't have anything else to say.

"Mom has a Ph. D. in journalism and mass communications."

"That's interest-"

"And yet she can't seem to talk to her child..."

"I...What?"

"You would think she would at least still want to see me...right?"

Alexander frowned and sat down next to Philip at the table. He finally noticed that Philip's cheeks were wet. "Philip, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's fine."

"You were literally just complaining about your mother."

Philip turned his head away. "No, I wasn't."

"Yes, you were."

Philip huffed. "Well, I'm not supposed to, so I wasn't."

"Saying that doesn't work in court, you know."

"This isn't court."

"Would you rather talk to your father about this?"

"No. I just...don't really want to talk about it."

"Why not?"

"Because no one thinks it's okay for me to be mad at my mom. They all expect me to hate me dad."

"But you don't hate your dad."

"No, I don't. I love him. He actually cares. Mom didn't even bother to try to care after what happened. She just left and never looked back. I don't even have a way to contact her." Philip sounded like he was going to cry again. Alex gently placed his hand on Philip's shoulder. "And...and I know she wanted a new life because she loved dad and was upset because he didn't love her back, but...but she can't just do that...she can't just..." Philip's voice cut out as he began to cry. Alexander wrapped Philip in a hug; the boy hugged Alexander back.

Alexander let Philip cry on his shoulder for a while. He felt bad for the kid, but he also felt like he understood, somewhat. It was also comforting to know that Philip trusted him.

"Let's cheer you up, huh?" Alex suggested, patting Philip's back. Philip nodded. "Your father won't wake up for hours, I'm sure. How about I make us a box of macaroni and cheese for breakfast?"

"Okay," Philip sniffled. He lifted his head off of Alex's shoulder and wiped his eyes.

"We can watch a movie, too, if you want. Get your mind off of things."

"Okay," Philip said again, his voice sounding more even. "Can...can we watch Deadpool?"

"I don't know...does your father allow you to watch it?"

"No," Philip sighed, pouting.

"Well, hurry up and put it on, then."

Philip's face lit up. He smiled faintly and got up, hurrying to the television.

As Alexander started making their pasta breakfast, he thought of something. Philip has trusted him enough to tell him this deep issue he had. Meanwhile, Alex trusted John more than anyone, but had refused to tell John about his own problems. It wasn't like he was necessarily afraid to tell people; he just didn't like them knowing. But he trusted and loved John, and he was sure John felt the same. So, as he watched a highly inappropriate movie with a fifteen year old, he built up the courage to speak.

* * *

It was a little after ten when John woke up again. The first thing he noticed was that his bed was significantly colder than it had been before. He frowned when he realized Alexander wasn't in bed with him. John heard noises coming from the living room, so he got out of bed and headed that direction.

Alex and Philip were watching cartoons, empty bowls laying on the floor next to them. Philip was wearing his mother's old sweatshirt from college, which was still a little too big for him.

"Hey, why did no one wake me up?" John asked as he stood behind the couch. He mussed up Philip's hair and kissed Alex on the head.

"We didn't want to," Philip stated.

"Aw, boo." John watched as Alexander stood up and walked into the kitchen. Alex waved John over, and John obliged.

"I...I want to tell you something," Alexander said, keeping his voice down. John furrowed his eyebrows, stepping a bit closer.

"What is it? Is something wrong?"

"I just..." Alex ran a hand through his hair. "I wanted to tell you about my nightmare."

John relaxed slightly. "Oh. You don't have to."

"No, I want to. You...you deserve to know."

"Okay."

Alexander took a deep breath. "So, um...when I was a kid..." Alex took another breath. "When I was a kid, my dad..." Alex swallowed. "My dad...he-he would, um...he physically and verbally abused me and my mom and my brother." Alexander had said that last part quickly. John felt his heart begin to beat faster. "I...I still have nightmares about it, obviously, and I figured that you should know. In case it happens again. Which it will."

"Alexander..." John stepped closer, gently touching Alex's arms. "That's horrible. I'm so-"

"Sorry," Alex finished. "You don't need to be. It's over. It has been for a long time. I'm okay, now." John still frowned at Alexander. Alex placed his hands on John's shoulders. "Seriously, John." John just sighed and hugged Alex, who rested his head on John's chest.

"I love you," John mumbled.

"I know," Alexander replied. "I love you, too." John softly kissed Alex's head. Alexander nuzzled against John, closing his eyes.

He didn't realize how tired he was until he was jolted away from sleep when John asked, "Did you make macaroni and cheese for breakfast?"


	15. Chapter 15

Two days before school started up again, at around noon, there was a knock at the door. John went to open the door, but before he could say hello, a sobbing Gil tackled him in a hug.

"Oh, my..." John dragged Gil into the house and sat him on the couch. Alexander and Philip were in the kitchen and glanced at each other in confusion and concern. John wrapped a blanket around Gil, then went to the kitchen to make some tea for the crying man.

"Dad," Philip asked, "what's wrong with Monsuier Lafayette?"

"I have no idea," John answered. He left the kitchen, bringing the cup of tea to Gil. John sat down next to his friend, who attempted to chug the tea while he still cried profusely. "Gil, why are you crying?"

Gil tried to say something, but it just came out as a sad garble of noise.

"Gil, please. What's wrong?"

"Nous...Je...Je..." Gil cried out dramatically and fell onto his side. John barely grabbed the cup in time before the tea was spilled everywhere.

"I can speak French," Alexander spoke up, walking over to the couch, "if that would be easier." Gil had buried his face in his hands, but nodded a bit.

"On n'est plus ensemble..." Gil sobbed.

"Oh. Well, then."

"What is it?" John asked.

"They, uh...they broke up."

"What? What do you mean?"

"I mean, they broke up."

"Gil and Hercules?"

Gil cried out again.

"Yes," Alexander confirmed.

"That's awful," John sighed. "How did it happen?"

"Oh, mon Dieu," Gil muttered, "je suis trop stupide."

"Non, vous n'êtes-"

"Oui, je suis. Je l'ai quitté."

"Oh." Alexander turned to John. "He left Hercules."

"Really?"

Both Alex and Gil nodded.

"Je-" Gil hiccuped. "I-I should not have. I miss him!" He cried out a third time.

"Well, why did you break up with him?"

"I don't know! I just...I guess I...I-I said I was bored..."

"Were you?"

"No!"

"Then why did you-"

"I don't know! I guess I just wasn't used to a real relationship..."

"When did this happen?" Alex asked

"Two days ago."

"And you're already this worked up about it?"

Gil shrugged.

"How did Herc feel about it?"

"He-He was upset...but he said it was okay...he let me go..."

"Do you want to get with him again?"

"Oui, obviously!"

"Then get with him," Alex said.

"But...but he will be mad at me..."

"I highly doubt that. You have to try."

Gil sniffled and hugged his arms to his chest. "I am scared..."

John placed his hand on Gil's shoulder. "It'll be fine, man." Gil just pouted. John sighed. "Do you want to stay here for the day?"

"The three of us can go to the bar, tonight, if you want," Alexander suggested.

"Can I come?" Philip asked from the kitchen.

"No, Philip."

"Fine, _Dad_ ," Philip said mockingly.

Alexander blushed fiercely, quickly turning back to Gil. "How does that sound?"

"That sounds nice," Gil said, smiling a bit.

* * *

No one was really that excited for school to start again. Of course, no one ever was. Still, it would have been nice if the teachers were around to teach the class.

"Hey, Dad?" Philip had walked into John's first hour class, interrupting a lecture about cells.

"Yes, Philip?" John responded.

"Um...Monsuier Lafayette hasn't showed up to class, and it's been fifteen minutes."

"Huh." John had Philip to go back to class, then told his class to work. He left the classroom and began a search. He tried calling and texting his friend multiple times, but got no answer. He asked Alexander if he had seen Gil, but got a no for an answer.

John supposed he shouldn't have been surprised by where he eventually found the French teacher. He had decided to ask Hercules if he knew where Gil was. Unfortunately, Hercules was nowhere to be found, either. John looked in both gyms, the weight room, then the main gym again before he checked the equipment closet as a last ditch effort.

When he opened the closet door, John found Hercules in there. He found Gil there, as well. He also found the two of them deep in a passionate make out session. John sighed, then cleared his throat loudly, startling his friends. The lovers jumped, hurriedly stepping back from each other.

"What the hell, John?" Gil snarled. Herc just had a smug, blissful smile on his face.

"You do know that first hour started almost a half hour ago, right?" John retorted. Hercules and Gil glanced at each other, then began to straighten out their clothes and fix their hair. John patiently waited outside of the room.

"I, uh...I will see you later, yes?" Gil asked Hercules.

"Yeah," Hercules said. "See ya'." He and Gil kissed again, then Gil reluctantly walked out of the closet and followed John down the hall.

They were silent for a minute, then John asked, "So, you got back together, then?"

Gil blushed slightly as he answered, "Yes. We had a talk."

"That's good."

"I agree."

"But you probably shouldn't make out at work, anymore."

"Unfortunately."


	16. Chapter 16

Philip didn't really like being a senior. He didn't like that he had to go to college in just a few months. He wasn't ready to leave home, especially not when this was about to happen.

"Finally," Philip had muttered when his father told him what was happening.

"How do I... _when_ do I..." John buried his face in his hands. "I don't know how to do this."

"You've already done it before."

"That was so long ago, and this is different."

Philip sighed. "Just do it tomorrow. Get it over with."

John took a deep breath. "Okay. Yeah. Okay. I can do this. I can do this." John paced around in a circle before collapsing into a chair. "I can't do this!"

"Dad, calm down. It'll be fine. Just do it tomorrow and everything will work out."

* * *

"Bonjour!" Gil shouted when he entered John's house. Hercules followed close behind him, quietly laughing.

"Hi, Gil," Alexander giggled. He was cuddling John on the couch, even though John was tense and fidgeting.

"Why did you call us over?"

"We just wanted to hang out," Alexander said. John weakly nodded.

"Ah, so you're wasting our Sunday."

"Shut up. You love us."

"Oui, but my time would be better spent 'loving' Hercules at home."

"Gil! Philip is still here, you know."

Philip waved from the kitchen. Gil smiled at him. "Hello, Philip." He turned back to John and Alex. "Well, what are we doing today?" Alexander shrugged while John stood up and rushed to the bathroom. Philip looked up from his phone and sighed deeply. He looked back down at his phone and texted his dad.

 **You:** Stop hiding

 **Dad:** No

 **You:** Just do it

 **Dad:** No. I can't.

 **You:** Yes you can. You don't even have to do anything outrageous. Just do it. Don't even think

 **Dad:** But

 **Dad:** What if

 **You:** He's not gonna say no. Just get out of the freaking bathroom and do it

Philip could practically hear his father's sigh. The bathroom door eventually opened, and John walked out, his head down.

"Hey, Honey," Alexander called out, "what do you want from the pizza place?"

John took a deep breath, then looked up and smiled as much as he could. "We've been dating for over two years. You should know by now." Alexander laughed softly, then slapped Gil when he made mocking kissing noises.

John looked to Philip and mouthed "Later." When Philip gave him a suspicious look, John mouthed, "I promise." Philip rolled his eyes.

It was actually pretty difficult for John to find the right moment do anything after eating pizza. How was he supposed to transition from that to this? He didn't know. He was about to give up when Philip, quite abruptly, stands and taps a spoon against his glass. Where the spoon came from during a pizza lunch? Who knows?

"Ladies and gentlemen," Philip began, "I am sure you're all wondering why I called you here today." Alex snorted. "My dear father, Jonathan Fitzgerald Laurence-"

"That's not even close to my name-"

"Just go with it," Philip hissed. He cleared his throat. "My father has an important announcement to make."

Alexander gasped. "Are you pregananant?" Everyone burst out laughing.

"He's not..." Philip sighed. "Okay, well, it's less of an announcement? More of a...it's complicated."

"What does that mean?" Alexander asked. Gil and Hercules glanced at each other, then Philip, then John, then Alex, then each other again.

John slowly stood up and took a deep breath. "It means...I just wanted to say that I love you a lot, Alex."

Alexander snorted again. "That doesn't seem worthy of a dramatic announcement-"

"Alex." The tone of John's voice and the look on his face made Alexander go quiet. John took Alex's hands into his own. "I _really_ love you. Like, so much. And...and...god, this is hard..."

"John, what is it?"

"I...Alex, I...I love you, so much, and...I want to be with you for a really, really long time. I..." John took another deep breath, then began to kneel down. "Alex...I...will you marry me?"

It was silent for a moment.

"This isn't funny."

John flinched. "What?"

"If this is a joke, it's not funny."

"Why would it be-"

Philip covered his mouth and turned away as he began to laugh. John stood up, instantly knowing his son was up to something.

"Philip, what did you do?"

"Nothing," Philip said, choking down a laugh.

" _Philip_."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Dude," Hercules cut in, "it's April Fools Day."

John tensed up. " _What?_ "

"Did you not know that?"

"No!"

Philip started laughing more.

"Philip, stop!"

"John, seriously," Alex asked, "is this real or not?"

"Yes! Yes, of course it's real! I want to marry you, Alex." John hurriedly pulled the two year old ring out of his pocket. "I really, really do."

Alexander just stared at the ring for a minute. Eventually, Philip got tired of the silence and nudged him. "What do you say?"

"I-I..." Alex's eyes welled up with tears. "Yes. Yes, yes, yes!" He jumped at John and hugged him and kissed him. John was surprised, but kissed Alexander back. Hercules and Gil applauded, and Philip just smiled.

"This is the best day of my life," John sobbed happily. Alexander nodded against him.

"So..." Philip rocked on his feet. "Am I going to have a different last name, now?" His parents just laughed at him.

* * *

 **So...the end I guess? This story was really fun. I hope you liked it.**


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